Pakistan is considering enforcement of Islamic laws in north-western Swat valley to meet the demands of militants who briefly seized and then released around 100 security personnel after nine days fierce fighting that left more than 200 people dead.
"The government is considering the implementation of Shariah law in view of the demands of the local people," said Ali Muhammad Jan Aurakzai, governor of the NWFP in which the valley is situated. "We are trying to resolve the issue through negotiations but if required, force will also be used," the DawnNews channel cited him as saying.
The statement came as the militants said they had released 120 soldiers captured after the clashes in Swat, some 160 kilometres from the NWFP capital Peshawar. "They have gone to their home towns and they have promised not to work with the security forces in the future," the militants' spokesman Maulana Sirajuddin told reporters.
"They were taken into protective custody," according to Sirajuddin, who had earlier said the policemen and soldiers had surrendered voluntarily on Friday night because "we assured them that they would be allowed to return to their homes safely." The law enforcers, mainly policemen and paramilitary troops, gave themselves up after being besieged at a police station and a hospital in the Matta area since October 26, when clashes erupted there following the deployment of government forces.
The forces were sent to the area to curb a rebellion by radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah and his armed followers, who were demanding the imposition of Taliban rule in Swat. Hundreds of heavily armed extremists exchanged heavy fire with the security forces, which pounded their positions in the mountains with artillery fire. Helicopter gun ships were also used in the firefight, which left more than 200 people dead, including dozens of government troops and hundreds injured.